by John A gard John Agard poet 1949 John Agard was born in British Guiana now called Guyana in the Caribbean in 1949 He moved to the UK in the late 1970s and is well known for ID: 529058
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Slide1
‘Checking Out Me History’ by John AgardSlide2
John
Agard
,
poet1949 -
John
Agard
was born in British Guiana (now called Guyana) in the Caribbean, in 1949. He moved to the UK in the late 1970s and is well known for
powerful and fun performances
of his work
.
He uses non-standard phonetic spelling (written as a word sounds) to represent his own accent, and writes about what it is like being black to challenge racist attitudes, especially those which are unthinking
.Slide3
A brief note…Agard is pointing out how in the English Curriculum students only seem to learn about white people because he believes it is written by white people for white peopleHe suggests that history in the English Curriculum deliberately leaves out information about black men and women who deserve more recognition Slide4
Stanza one…Dem
tell me
Dem tell me
Wha dem want to tell meAnaphora: these
three
words ‘Dem tell me’
are used at the start of all the stanzas that rhyme
Repetition
:
highlights the control that white people have over history
Phonetic spelling:
an identity from Jamaican roots
Pronoun: ‘Dem’: suggests separateness [‘dem and ‘me’ = them and us]Slide5
Stanza two…Bandage
up me eye with
me
own historyBlind me to me own identityMetaphor: on ‘bandage’ at suggests that
information has been
hidden
Alliteration:
on ‘
b
’ creates
an angry tone
Non-standard
English: on ‘me’ is used to establish a separate identity from the dominant white identitySlide6
Stanza three…Dem tell me bout
1066 and
all
datdem tell me bout Dick Whittington and he catBut Toussaint L’Ouvertureno dem
never
tell me
bout
dat
Nursery rhyme style and references
: shows
he is mocking what he has been told, expects the reader to know all this
Juxtaposition
: pantomime and fables against black history
Double negative
: sounds angry against the oppressive nature of white historySlide7
Stanza four… Toussaint
a slave
with vision
lick back Napoleon battalion and first Black Republic born Toussaint de thorn to de French
Toussaint
de
beacon
of de Haitian Revolution
Longer, italicised verses
: emphasises black historical characters
Short lines, free verse: recalls memories
Metaphor and positive imagery: used to indicate light being brought to black people
Rhyme:
used the power of oral narratives, challenges white history, black history is often told through oral narratives
Repetition:
reminds the reader of his chant, his pointSlide8
Stanza five…Dem tell me bout de man who discover de balloonand de cow who jump over de moon
Dem tell me bout
de dish ran away with the spoon
but dem never tell me bout Nanny de maroonLack of punctuation: rejects
the rules of
punctuation, rejecting
white
history, rejecting control
Maroon
=
‘maroon’
is a term used to describe black slaves who escaped from slavery
Nursery rhyme references
: trivialises white history, like how historians have trivialised black historySlide9
Stanza six… Nanny
see-far woman
of mountain dream fire-woman struggle hopeful stream to freedom river
Metaphor
: positive image used to indicate how Nanny had the power to see into the future
Metaphor
and
nature and water imagery
: used to indicate Nanny being a spiritual person
Metaphor
: used to indicate warmth and light
Broken syntax
: creates a serious, undeveloped, yet fragmented voiceSlide10
Stanza seven…Dem tell me bout Lord Nelson
and
Waterloobut
dem never tell me bout Shaka de great ZuluDem tell me bout Columbus and 1492but what happen to de Caribs and de
Arawaks
too
Juxtaposition:
antithetical power structures
:
Caribs
and Arawaks, the original inhabitants of the West Indies and Columbus who represents the colonisers
Pairing: Lord Nelson with Shaka Slide11
Stanza eight…Dem tell me bout Florence Nightingale
and
she lamp
And how Robin Hood used to campDem tell me bout ole King Cole was a merry ole soulbut dem never tell me bout Mary Seacole
Juxtaposition
: Figures from British folklore and nursery rhymes contract with Mary Seacole
Symbolism
: used to reduce Florence’s importance, although light imagery links to black historical references
Quoted rhyme
: suggests how history is not questioned, only repeatedSlide12
Stanza nine…Metaphors
:
describes Mary Seacole in a positive
‘healing’ light and ‘a yellow sunrise’ is full of hope and promise for the dying, a ‘star’ links to the wider universe From Jamaica she travel far to the
Crimean War
she volunteer to go
and even when de British said no
she still brave
the Russian snow
a healing star among the wounded a yellow sunrise to the dying
Crimean War = 1854-56 Russian Empire vs Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire. Lots of deaths occurred from fighting bit also from outbreaks of disease.
Metaphor
: suggests braverySlide13
Stanza ten…Dem tell
Dem
tell me
wha dem want to tell meBut now I checking out me own historyI carving out me identityRepetition
:
‘
dem
tell me’ could represent how
black people were oppressed by white history, returns to stanza 1 and his first point
Anaphora
: highlights the anger and defiance of the speaker
Metaphor
: suggests an imprint, permanence
Metaphor
: suggests the main theme of his own historySlide14
Consider the following meanings…‘Dem’ -
‘Me’
-‘Bout’ -
‘Dat’ -‘Lick back’ -‘De’ – ‘See-far woman’ –
=‘Them’
=‘My’
=‘About’
=‘That’
=‘Defeated’
=‘Of’
=‘A
woman who has a vision of the future’Slide15
The poem…Is cleverly constructed to reclaim black identityMakes the reader aware that British history is only a point of view
Introduces the reader to famous black people
Reminds us that whoever controls the past, controls the present
Cleverly uses two types of stanza to show the differences between ‘official’ and ‘non-official’ history
Shows that without a history and without a distinctive voice we may have no identitySlide16
StructureThe poem alternates between two different structures, which is indicated by two different fonts
Rhyming couplets, triplets or quatrains
Repetition of ‘Dem tell me’ indicates the white version of history
Stories of three black historical figures is told using abbreviated syntax – words missed out, shorter lines and an irregular rhyme schemeThe same quatrain is repeated throughout the poem – in each one a different famous white figure is mentioned. Each quatrain usually ends with the mention of a black historical figure who isn’t taught about.Slide17
Sound (phonological effects)Variations in spelling suggests Caribbean dialect and highlights the importance of the speaker ‘carving out his own identity’Repetition creates a sense of rhythm
End rhyme is used and is emphasised by the inclusion of references to traditional nursery rhymesSlide18
ImageryReferences to children’s nursery rhymes and storybook charactersSuggestions that the historical events taught in school are not entirely accurateNature metaphors are used for the black historical figures indicating the strength/growth of these characters
Light – all three are linked to light metaphors showing that they are shining a light on black historical identitySlide19
Attitudes, themes and ideasA dual tone in the poem – rebellious, accusatory tone changes to a celebratory oneMakes the reader consider the meaning of history, provoking the reader to ‘check out’ our own historiesConfident tone that is aiming to bring about changeSlide20
How is the narrator’s voice created in the poem?Non-standard spelling used to phonetically represent an accentRepetition gives it a strong voice, suggesting an assertive, aggressive moodThere is a change in tone when talking about the black historical figures
Rhyme gives it a sing-song tone which suggests an underlying contempt for the white-centric history in the curriculum
A sense of determination in the last line suggests that things are going to change